


all the gold and guns in the world wouldn't get you off

by eternal_elenea



Category: Hunger Games (2012), Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Character Study, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-29
Updated: 2012-03-29
Packaged: 2017-11-02 16:50:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/371234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternal_elenea/pseuds/eternal_elenea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Glimmer's story is one of ambition and of betrayal; it is not one of love.</p><p>Written for the <a href="http://anythingbutgrey.livejournal.com/808309.html">AU Comment Ficathon</a> on Livejournal for the prompt: <i>The Hunger Games, Glimmer/Seneca Crane, media manipulation</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	all the gold and guns in the world wouldn't get you off

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Gold Guns Girls" by Metric.

"Glimmer," they call at The Selection, for in District 1 it is not called The Reaping, and Glimmer tosses back her hair, steps forward, throws a smile at Marvel next to her. "Glimmer," they call, and at last it is her chance for glory.

She trusts that it will be a good one.

-

As they all are, this is a story of ambition. As they all are, this is a story of betrayal. It isn't a story of love, so never mistake it for one.

-

She was always meant for more than just District 1, she was always meant for the highest and the most glorious. She was always meant to _fight_ and so she goes to train for the Hunger Games when she is seven. She does not miss her parents or her baby sister, doesn't miss school or afternoons of parties and teas; she doesn't miss the childhood that she never had. Glimmer has always been meant for more, and if that means that she must kill her first squirrel at eight, her first dog at nine, her first opponent (and by that she means _human_ ) at eleven, then it will still be worth it.

Glimmer learns, over the years, how to sword-fight, how to wrestle, how to smile and flip her hair until they all, _they all_ , underestimate her. Glimmer learns how to _survive_ through beauty and through brawn and all the while she hears the tales of her District's great champions. _One day I will be among them_ , Glimmer thinks, and she will not accept anything less.

-

She boards the train to the Capitol, already knowing exactly what to expect, what to do. She boards the train and sits down across from her mentor, Gloss, who does nothing but stare at her legs, doesn't give her any advice except "keep taking care of that hair, darling" and she expects this too, rolls her eyes so that he can see. She never needed him, anyway, not when she has herself.

-

"I'm Glimmer," she says with a smile and a flutter of her lashes and they all smile back with that expression of "oh, isn't that nice" and "one less to worry about." Her smile means that too; only one of them will be right; three guesses which.

-

The first time he sees her – and, yes, it is that _he_ sees _her_ , for this is far more important than the fact that she sees him _before_ – she's making her way through the circuit with all of the other tributes. They've been clustered into the gym to be observed by the Gamemakers and potential sponsors and this is her chance to make the first impression. They've been clustered into the gym to be observed by the Gamemakers and potential sponsors and by the end she will have them all exactly where she wants them.

She will have _him_ exactly where she wants him. _Seneca Crane_ , she thinks, and she looks deliberately over at him, stroking his goatee, and gives him a smile that is altogether too sly (just sly _enough_ ). She walks, knowing far too well that his eyes are on her, that all of their eyes are on her. She walks, swaying her hips, and throws a knife into the bulls-eye of the nearest target. The gleam of the steel matches that in her eyes, and in _his_.

-

There are daggers and there are words and there are smiles and they're weapons, even for how different they are. There are daggers and there are words and there are smiles, and if she had her way, Glimmer would have, always, all three.

-

By the second day she can already make a diagram of the other tributes' strengths and weaknesses. She can already see the way that the girl from Twelve avoids the bow and arrow because she's too good, the way that Clove _over_ -lifts so she looks stronger than she actually is, the way that Cato looks towards her with something like – no, not like, _exactly_ – want in his eyes.

She can see and so she knows exactly the words to say, exactly how to act. She knows what to say to make them trust her, but never feel threatened by her; she knows what _not_ to say and they'll always, always turn on each other before they turn on her.

Glimmer has trained for this, is meant for this – _what_ , did you think she was an idiot?

-

The Gamemakers see her in the morning, second, after Marvel, and she teases them. She teases them with what she can do – her skills with a knife, with knots and with mines and with climbing trees. She teases them with a look in her eye and a leisurely smile; they cannot take their eyes off of her.

Seneca sits in the center, leaning forward on his steepled fingers, and he is more riveted than even the rest of them, as she gives him a private smile of his own. Seneca sits in the center and she can see the hunger in his eyes.

She had grown up learning everything that there was to learn about the games, and this is the first lesson: Gamemakers write the rules, and so they can _change_ the rules. Gamemakers have all of the power and the Head Gamemaker has even more than the rest put together. "Get them on your side," they had told her, because this was important. "Get them on your side and maybe you won't be killed by a wayward disaster"; "get them on your side and we guarantee that the crowd, that the sponsors, will _love_ you." Gamemakers have all of the power and the Head Gamemaker has even more than the rest put together and it would not hurt for them to have a little more hunger.

-

"Ten," they call the next morning and Glimmer nods, walks away from the whispers of Gloss and Marvel. It's enough to tempt the sponsors, not enough make her a target. It's enough to make everyone _watch_ but not to make them _weary_. Glimmer nods, walks away from the whispers of Gloss and Marvel. That would do nicely.

-

To the interview, she wears a dress that leaves nothing to the imagination – a translucent golden dress – because she _can._

-

This is the last night before she enters the arena. This is her last chance to draw them closer, to tilt the odds further towards her. This is the last opportunity to put on _show_. This is the very last and she will not waste it because even now they are watching.

She knows that there are cameras in all of the rooms, in _her_ rooms. She knows there are cameras and that _he_ is sitting behind them, that he is watching her, even now. She knows that he is watching and so she will show him something worth remembering.

Glimmer is glory and she is beauty and she has always known what she wanted. Glimmer is glorious and she is beautiful and she unbuttons her blouse with a smirk and a finger against her lips. _He will never forget me_ , she thinks; _he will never let me lose_ , she thinks.

"Seneca," she says into the empty room and she knows that he will hear her. "Seneca," she says and she removes her clothes, piece by piece, slowly, until her hair falls just over her breasts and he can see all of her. "Seneca," she says and this is what she must do, what she _will_ do to get what she wants.

-

"Sixty seconds," Gloss tells her, "The gong will sound in sixty seconds." It's not enough time, not near enough time, to fully look around the stadium, but she spots her favorite knives against the base of the cornucopia. She smiles and thinks, _you remembered_.

-

By the end of the day, her hands are covered it blood, warm and wet from it, and so are everyone else's. By the end of the day, the tributes have already been cut in half (and, in some cases, _literally_ ) and Glimmer is that much nearer to her spot at the top. By the end of the day, Glimmer knows, even more than before, that she _will_ win, that no one here can stop her.

Even if she has to kill them with her own hands, one by one (and she _won't_ , will she, because they will do so much of her work for her), she will still be the one there at the end. She may have to lie or flirt or stab them in the back, but she _will_ be the one to emerge from this, victorious.

She will wait and she will watch and the rest of the careers will turn on each other in the end.  She will wait and she will watch and no one will expect her to strike when she does.

She smiles as she falls asleep.

-

Glimmer wakes up to the sound of wasps, to the sound of _tracker jackers_ , and, before she can move, she's surrounded by them, stung on the crook of her knee, her wrist, the side of her neck. Before she can move, she's already paralyzed and _no_ , this is _not_ how it will end. Stung on the crook of her knee, her wrist, the side of her neck and the stings are turning to the size of the tangerines that she eats by the bucketful back at home.

 _Home_ , she thinks and this is the first time that she has thought about it since she arrived to the Capitol. _Home_ , she thinks and she can see it going up in flames, can hear her own screams and the charred body of the sister she deserted. _Home_ , she thinks and she sees the room she had stayed in for ten years with cameras covering the walls, sees them laughing at her because she will never be good enough, will never be smart enough or beautiful enough. She sees them laughing because she will never _win_.

There is a last moment of lucidness, a last bare moment, before the world becomes consumed in memories and in dreams. There is a last moment of lucidness and it is not enough to think of what she should have done, what she should have _been_. There is a last bare moment and it is not enough to think of how they all betrayed her or how she betrayed herself.

Glimmer was always meant for the highest and the greatest, was always meant for _more_ , but instead she only has a head full of nightmares and fingers splayed against the dry grass and no glory at all.


End file.
